NOTE – This article was first
published in the June 2005 issue of "Aestel" the Aethelmearc Kingdom
newsletter.

Game
of the Month:

Marbles
by THL Dagonell

Marbles
predate recorded history. Not only have marbles been found in Egyptian tombs as
well as Greek and Roman excavations, but also in archaeological digs dating
back to the Ice Age on every continent. The Roman poet Ovid mentions marbles.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, Augustus Caesar played with marbles as a
child.

From
correspondence between The Marble Museum and Dr. Veronica Tatton-Brown of The
British Museum: "After consultation with an American colleague, I am
now able to suggest how a Roman glass marble was made. A gather of molten
glass, attached to the tip of a metal rod, was rolled over heated slices of
preformed colored canes. By alternately reheating and rolling the glass on a
smooth surface, the canes became embedded and fused with the surface of the
glass. The hot glass was then formed to become spherical in shape by rolling it
in a hollowed-out wooden form (shape). A narrow constriction was made between
the spherical object and the rod by squeezing the glass with a two-bladed metal
tong-like tool. Finally, by tapping, the glass would have fallen away from the
metal rod and the marble was placed in an annealing oven for gradual cooling.
On cooling, the rough spot where the rod was attached was smoothed by
cold-working."

Pieter
Brueghel, a 16th century Flemish painter, depicts children playing marbles in
"Children's Games" (1560). "Cherry Pit", a marble game, is
mentioned in Shakespeare; 'Tis not gravity to play at cherry-pit with Satan.'
[Twelfth Night, Act iii, Sc. 4, Ln. 129] Settlers to the New World found
Amerinds playing marble games. The game has even contributed to our language.
The phrases "going for all the marbles", "losing one's
marbles", and "knuckling down to business" all come from the
children's game of marbles.

A
number of marble games follow. Bear in mind that rules varied wildly from
region to region and making up a game on the spot was not at all unusual.
Players should also agree in advance whether they are playing 'for fair' (all
marbles returned to owner) or 'cut-throat' (winner keeps, loser weeps).

RING
TAW (aka RINGERS, RINGO) -- A one foot ring is drawn inside of a ten foot ring.
Each player puts in a number of 1/2" marbles so that there is about a
dozen marbles in the smaller ring. At the National Marbles Tournament (NMT),
held every year in June in New Jersey, thirteen marbles supplied by the
organizers are arranged in a cross at the center of the ring and there is no
one foot ring. Shooting order is determined by 'lagging', shooting to see who can
get closest to a designated line. The first player, starting outside the ten
foot circle, attempts to thumb his 'taw' (a 3/4" shooting marble) to knock
a target marble out of the large ring while keeping the taw inside the ring. If
he succeeds, he shoots again from where the taw stopped. 'Sticking' or shooting
seven consecutive marbles out of the ring and winning the game without giving
an opponent a turn is usually good for two days of playground bragging rights.
If the player fails to knock a target marble out of the ring, or his taw leaves
the ring, his turn is over and next player takes his turn. At NMT, if your taw
is in the ring at the end of your turn, you must remove it. In informal games,
if your taw is in the ring, it becomes a legitimate target and any player who
hits it out collects a forfeit from you. Players should agree in advance
whether to use this rule. Play alternates until one player has knocked a
majority of the marbles out of the ring. The process of picking the best
possible position for starting is referred to as 'taking rounders'.

BOSS
OUT (aka LONG TAWL) -- First player shoots one marble. Second player trys to
hit the first player's marble. If he hits it, he collects both marbles. If the
two marbles are close enough, he can attempt to 'span' them. He places his
thumb on his own marble and his index finger on his opponent's marble. He then
draws his hand up while bringing his fingers together. If the two marbles hit,
he collects both marbles. If he misses, the first player may shoot at either
marble on the field. If a player collects the last marble on the field, he must
shoot a marble for the next player to shoot at.

BRIDGEBOARD
-- A board with nine cutouts along one edge is propped up on that edge to form
nine archways. The numbers 6, 2, 3, 1, 5, 8, 7, 9, 4 are painted over the
arches, one number over each arch. Players try to shoot through the holes and
win the number of marbles indicated by the number above the hole. Any marbles
which miss become the property of the board owner. The board may also be used
to play NINE HOLES.

BUN-HOLE
-- A one-foot wide hole is dug in the center of the playing field. Players
attempt to get a marble as close as possible to the hole without going in.
Whoever's marble comes closest without going in wins a marble from each player.
Knocking in your opponent's marble is permitted.

CASTLES
(aka PYRAMID) -- Each player makes a small pyramid of four of his marbles,
three as a base with one on top. Players take turns shooting at these pyramids
and keep any marbles they knock out of position. Alternately, a single player
may build all the pyramids of his own marbles and a charge a fee of a marble
for each shot taken at the pyramid. In some versions it may be necessary for a
marble to leave a one-foot circle drawn around the pyramid before it can be
claimed. The illustration is a detail from Brueghel's "Children's
Games"

CHERRY
PIT -- This is the reverse of RING TAW. A one-foot wide hole is dug in the
center of a ten-foot circle. Each player places a number of marbles around the
hole so that there is about a dozen marbles surrounding the hole. Players take
turns trying to knock marbles into the hole. Like Ring Taw, as long as
marbles are knocked into the hole and the taw remains in the ring, players may
continue to shoot. If a taw goes into the hole, the owner must forfeit a number
of marbles and place them around the hole to 'buy back' his shooter.

CONQUEROR
-- First player shoots a marble away from the line of play. Second player
shoots at the first players marble. If he hits it, he keeps both marbles and
shoots a new marble to re-start the game. If he misses, his marble remains
where it stops. Subsequent players may shoot for any marble out on the playing
field. If multiple marbles are hit in a chain reaction, the player may keep
all marbles struck.

See
BOSS OUT.

DOBBLERS
-- Each player contributes one or more marbles to start the game. The marbles
are arranged in a straight line, each marble being exactly twice the width of a
marble away from the marbles on either side. Each player then shoots in turn
and may keep any marbles he hits. In some variations, a successful hit
entitles the shooter to another turn. The players taw remains where it lies at
the end of his turn and subsequent turns are played from where the taw lies. A
player whose taw is hit by another taw must add one marble to the line to 'buy
back' his shooter. See PICKING PLUMS

HUNDREDS
-- Both players try to shoot their taws into a one-foot hole. If both taws go
in, players start over. If one player's marble goes in and the other player's
marble doesn't, the player whose marble went in scores ten points. If neither
player's marble goes in, the first player now tries to hit the second player's
marble. If he hits it, he earns ten points and another chance to shoot his
marble into the hole for ten points. If he misses either his opponent's marble
or the hole, the second player tries to hit the first player's marble for ten
points and another try at shooting his marble into the hole for ten points.
Whenever a marble goes into the hole, both players start over from the starting
line, otherwise all shots are made from wherever the marble stopped rolling.
First player to reach one hundred points wins.

INCREASE
POUND – An 8" circle, called a "pound" is drawn inside a
12" circle called the "bar". Each player contributes a few
marbles to the pound. First player shoots his taw from any point on the bar at
the marbles in the pound. Any marble knocked out of the pound become the
property of the shooter and play passes to the next person. If the shooter
fails to knock any marbles out of the pound, and his taw stays within the bar,
he must leave his taw where it stops. In some variations, if the taw stays
within the pound, the player may pay a forfeit of one or two marbles to recover
his shooter. Subsequent players have the option of shooting for marbles in the
pound or an opponent's taw. If the target taw is struck, the taw's owner must
pay a forfeit to the shooter to recover his taw. This forfeit can vary from a
single marble to a percentage of the marbles previously earned by the owner in
the game, up to all of them.

NINE
HOLES -- This name is given to two different marble games. The first game is
Miniature Golf played with marbles. Players construct a miniature golf course
from materials at hand and take turns shooting their marbles around, through,
and over the obstacles they've built. First player to complete nine holes wins.

A
second version of the game is played with a bridgeboard. Players take turns
shooting their marbles through the arches in numerical order. Arches that are
shot through out of sequence don't count. A successful shoot through the
correct arch entitles the shooter to an additional turn. First player to send
his marble through all nine holes in the correct order wins. The illustration
is a detail from Brueghel's "Children's Games". I believe that the
children are playing a variation of NINE HOLES using small holes dug in the
ground rather than a wooden board.

PICKING
PLUMS -- Each player contributes one or more marbles to start the game. The
marbles or 'plums' are arranged in a straight line, each marble being exactly
twice the width of a marble away from the marbles on either side. Each player
then shoots in turn and may keep any marbles he hits. The difference between
DOBBLERS and PICKING PLUMS is that all shots are taken from behind a line about
six feet away from the 'plums'. The player does not get another turn for a
successful hit and the taw is recovered at the end of each turn so there is no
opportunity to hit an opponent's shooter. Play continues until all 'plums' are
picked.

Copyright 2005 by David P. Salley.
<dagonell at heronter.org>. Permission is granted for republication in
SCA-related publications, provided the author is credited and receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a
publication, I would appreciate a notice in the publication that you found this
article in the Florilegium. I would also appreciate an email to myself, so that
I can track which articles are being reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.